Synopses & Reviews
In this volume, now in paperback, over 40 researchers across the social sciences offer a series of engaging accounts reflecting on dilemmas and issues that they experienced while conducting and communicating research on personal life. Their insights are food for thought for students, researchers, professionals and anyone using, planning or conducting research on families and relationships, encouraging critical reflection on the readers' own processes. Researchers' accounts are organised under and commented on by insightful overviews. David Morgan leads with consideration of framing research; Kay Tisdall reflects on ethical considerations in research engagements; Angus Bancroft and Stuart Aitken each comment on researchers' accounts from 'in the field'; Lynn Jamieson discusses dilemmas in interpreting and representing families and relationships and Sarah Morton and Sandra Nutley reflect on getting research into policy and practice.
Synopsis
This collection focuses on the real life experiences of conducting emprical research about families and relationships, with an emphasis on the actualities of doing research and the experiences of being a researcher.
About the Author
Lynn Jamieson is Professor of Families and Relationships at the University of Edinburgh, UK, and Co-Director of the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships. Her publications include
Living Alone: Globalization, Identity and Belonging (with R. Simpson);
Families and the State: Changing Relationships (with S. Cunnigham-Burley); and Intimacy: Personal Relationships in Modern Societies.
Roona Simpson is Lecturer at the University of Glasgow, UK. Her publications include Contemporary Spinsterhood in Britain: Gender, Partnership Status and Social Change.
Ruth Lewis is Research Fellow at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Editors' Biographies
Contributors' Biographies
Introduction
Framing Relationships and Families; D.Morgan
Researching Men's Same-Sex Relationships in a Socially-Excluding Context: The Case of Nigeria; D.Allman
Researching Social Attitudes towards Families and Relationships; F.Wasoff
When a Family is Not a 'Family': The Value of Confusion in Cross-Cultural Research; I.Naumann
Losing (my) Autonomy Under the Ethical Committee's Gaze; S.Wilson
Where is the Care? Conceptualising and Researching Families' Responsibilities and Work in a Survey; L.McKie and A.Smith
Engaging with Families and Relationships; K.Tisdall
Unfamiliar Places and Other People's Spaces: Reflections on the Practical Challenges of Researching Families in their Homes; A.MacLean
Researching Children and Families in Schools; J.Spratt
Hanging About and Hanging in There: Dilemmas in Managing Research Relationships with Young People; K.Philip
Dad Said 'She Won't Talk' … but He Does: Messy Realities of Negotiating Access to Children through Parental Gatekeepers; L.Hill
See No Evil, Hear No Evil: Do Children In Distress Take Second Place?; S.Nelson
In the Field: Research Relationships; A.Bancroft
Only Nodding and Smiling: Reflections on Feelings of Complicity in Interviewing; A.Bell
'I Don't Know Where to Put Myself': The Boundaries of Researcher Roles and Responsibilities; G.Highet
Performing Secrecy: Maintaining the Hidden Identity of Research Informants in Public; J.Speirs
Keeping it in the Family: Conducting Research Interviews with your own Family Members; J.Seymour
Is There a Place for Physical Engagement in the Adult Researcher-Child Participant Research Relationship?; S.Milne
Time and Place: In and Beyond 'the Field' Stuart; C.Aitken
Second best? Raising the Status of Telephone Interviewing in Research; E.Davidson
'I Can't Share That With You Yet': The Line between Protecting Premature Research Findings and being a Cooperative Colleague; G.Nowak
Making it Through the Night: The Experience and Impact of doing Research on Night-Time Care; H.Wilkinson
The Uncomfortable Context: Reflections on Time and Space when Researching Young People's Experiences of Parental Substance Misuse; K.Houmøller and S.Bernays
Feeling at Home: Researching Children's Experiences of Residential Care; S.Elsley
Interpreting and Representing Families and Relationships; L.Jamieson
"The Things Children Say": Understanding Children as Narrators of their Lives; A.James
The Emotional Impacts of Working with Sensitive Secondary Data; S.Jackson, K.Backett-Milburn and E.Newell
Hearing Men Changed my Mind but it is Still a Feminist Issue!; S.Kelly
Using Mixed Methods to Research Families and Relationships; V.May
Making Sense of Family Resemblance: The Politics of Visual Perception; K.Davies
What Happens Next? Getting Research into Policy and Practice; S.Morton and S.Nutley
Sharing Slippery Knowledge: Handling the Unintended Impact of Knowledge Exchange; H.Wilkinson
The Process of Editing from Academic to 'Real World' Language; J.Flueckiger
Dissemination - 'Sounds Painful!': Experiences in a Dedicated Knowledge Exchange Role on a Government Survey; L.Kelly
Construing or Misconstruing Families in Research and Media; V.Skafida
Communicating Edinburgh City Council's Annual Neighbourhood Survey; D.Porteous
Conclusion
Pains and Pleasures
The Future of Families and Relationships Research
References